


Hunters

by Awokenintime



Category: Alien vs Predator (2004), Predator (1987), Predators (2010)
Genre: Canon Typical Violence, Cussing, Dementia, F/M, NO SEXUAL CONTENT NOPE NOPE NOPE, Weyland Industries, also dutch is a great old man and adorable so YEEHAW, dealing with mental illness and disease, humans are so damn squishy but its cute??, laguage barrier is never broken because thats just how it is, lots of language, probably not as much as the movies tho, the ending for avp was bullshit and im fixing it, the yautja are adorable and dont know how to deal with humans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 04:25:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7786681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awokenintime/pseuds/Awokenintime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexa Woods has been in denial about her experience in Bouvetøya and hasn't let herself forget the horrors hiding just behind her eyelids. Even her protector and savior has become a nightmare, his rescues and respect for her forgotten beneath years of nightmarish dreams warping her reality of him.<br/>When Sofie Schaefer, the granddaughter of a survivor of an attack similar to Alexa's encounter, seeks her out in answering questions about the strange predatory creatures, Alexa warns her about investigating them, lest she actually meet one. But Sofie isn't easily deterred, and as Dutch's mind slips away, she knows she has to find them and give him the answer's he's always asked for, before he disappears forever. </p><p>The Hunter hasn't forgotten Alexa, either, but on a planet swarming with humans, it's impossible to find her. This hunting season, he's out of it, his companion impatient as he trips over himself and looses so many targets. But when  they encounter a human female, smart and daring, their interests are perked as she begs them only answer questions. And one word, one name catches the Hunter's attention. Lex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Coward

Danger. It hung about her like a heavy mist, filling her with chilled fear and terror. She hated it. She didn’t want to relive that horror day, after day, after day. But here she was again, sitting alone and waiting for another reminder. Another kid looking for a good scare. Another writer looking for inspiration. Another doctor trying to pinpoint when she’d made a personal breakthrough in accepting her hallucinations as they were.

She laughed bitterly. If only they had been. If only she’d imagined the monsters, the deaths, the scars that littered her body and the hunk of metal she’d stuffed under mountains of old clothes, all boxed and forgotten in her basement. But she knew exactly where it was. No matter how long it sat, she never forgot.

She dragged her thoughts away from the damned memory and back to the present. The email she’d received had filled her with dread and bitterness. Anger had first hit her when she’d seen it in her inbox and she’d wanted to throw out her computer and have it over with. It’d been almost ten years and yet they still insisted on coming back to talk to her, to have her tell them about her nightmares.

About the screams she still felt in her belly, the breathless terror running through her at the memory of those silver teeth and claws-

“Oh, oh sorry I’m late, Miss Woods!” Alexa’s mind snapped out of it as someone sat across from her, and she had to double take. She was expecting some snotty journalist, someone whose noses were bent from too many days spent with it stuck in other people’s business. She could sniff out a reporter from miles away, and this girl most definitely wasn’t one.

The girl smiled widely at Alexa and there was nothing masking that overflowing happiness and pleasure at where she was and who she was with. Young and bright, with a hint of nervous glee, she was pretty and dainty and she didn’t look like the kind of girl to dip her fingers in conspiracies. Alexa offered the girl a forced smile. The letter had seemed more of a formal author, a professional, but hidden beneath all the professionalism, there was an unbridled enthusiasm and excitement that made Alexa relent and accept the meeting, despite so many other’s she’d turned down or flat out told off.

It took a moment for Alexa to manage out, “It’s fine… I haven’t been here too long myself.”

“Oh thank God, I was scared you’d have been waiting for me too long, haha!” There it was again, that unrestrained giddiness that children had, not college kids. God knew all enthusiasm was ripped out of them there.

“Not at all.”

The girl offered Alexa her hand and grinned even wider. “Sofie Schaefer,” she introduced herself, as they shook hands. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Miss Woods, you are really amazing and just…” she struggled for something to say before she sighed with a smile, “thank you, so, so, so much for meeting me here!”

“The pleasure is mine… sorry I’m just,” she shook her head, still surprised. “I didn’t expect you to be… well, this enthusiastic.”

Sofie shrugged and laughed nervously, her anxiousness coming out a bit more, as she rubbed the back of her head and nodded. “Yeah, I know… it’s a pretty serious subject for you and I know… I know it’s hard to remember, but I… I don’t know, I wanted to ask you about it in person because…” she clears her throat as that enthusiasm died out in nearly an instant. “It’s…. it’s kind of a long story, a family one, and so few people believe it and I just wanted to see if you had… if it sounded right to you.”

Alexa, unsettled and nervous sat back and began to nurse her coffee. “I’ll see if I can help.” She dearly, dearly hoped she couldn’t.

Sofie swallowed back a nervous lump in her throat and began to shift. She didn’t like talking about it in most places… merely because people would look at her and call her crazy… like they’d called her grandfather crazy, like her own father called his father crazy. But maybe, just maybe, this woman would be able to help her…

“I…” she coughed, “My grandfather was a part of a special ops unit back in the eighties. His team was one of the best rescue teams and they refused any other sort of mission. ‘We weren’t assassins’ he’d said. He didn’t like killing, but it was a necessity.

“One day, he gets a call for a special mission down in Guatemala and his old friend cued him in to it. They get going but… everyone’s dead.”

Alexa frowned. That certainly wasn’t the turn she was expecting. At least, not yet. “What do you mean?”

Sofie made a face and tapped her head, fidgeting and anxious as she tried to remember the details of the story. He’d only been able to refresh her memory so much… his cognizant states were few and far between and his memory was failing him more and more each day. “When they landed, they came up to this… plane. And everyone had been dragged out of it and hung upside down and skinned.”

Alexa’s eyes got wide and she made a face.

“I know, so they thought it was the guerillas, right? Well, it wasn’t. They come up to the camp and the hostages are all dead, but they pick up one of the fighters, a woman, and she tries to get away. While she’s bolting she’s caught, but the officer that catches her gets killed and gets dragged off into nowhere.” Sofie leaned forwards and whispered lowly, “Now, here’s where things get creepy. When they ask her what happened, she says ‘The Jungle came alive and took him.’”

Now that was an interesting way of putting it. Alexa’s expression turned scrutinizing before it faded into astonishment and fear. They had that… cloaking device. They’d looked like the wall was morphing a little as it moved, but when they were still they were entirely undetectable. In a jungle, she supposed, they could look a hell of a lot like the jungle itself was moving. She shifted and rubbed her chin, shaking her head. “That… it’s so different from everything I went through-”

“Wait, wait,” Sofie interrupted. “There’s more.”

“Oh, great.”

Alexa was only offered a small, sympathetic look before the girl continued. “So they keep on going through, trying to contact a get out of there fast chopper, but they can’t get one in cause they’re in a hot zone or whatever, and another officer gets picked off. The woman’s answer is the same and now another officer seconds that testimony. My grandfather’s spooked now, and so is Billy, their resident scared-of-nothing and not afraid to die dude. They get attacked again, but the thing hunting them just makes off with the bodies and doesn’t hurt the woman, who’d been left alone.”

Alexa shook her head. They didn’t care about male or female, they killed them all. The only reason they’d spared her was because she’d killed one of those things. “That makes no sense-”

“She was _unarmed_ ,” Sofie interrupted, her voice as harsh and cold as her grandfather’s had been when he told her. “No _sport_.”

Alexa rubbed her temples. “So they just… continue through the forest hoping not to get killed?”

“They make a stand, try to spring a trap on it, but it fails. Everyone else dies one by one until it’s just the woman and my grandfather. They’re close enough to a rescue point that he orders her to get to the copper, and leads the thing away from her.”

“Brave man,” Alexa commented, but her voice was hoarse and she looked haunted, even to Sofie’s eyes.

Sofie paused in her tale, noticing the woman’s discomfort and she sighed, sitting back. Perhaps this was too hard of a tale for her to hear. “Long story short, my grandfather killed it before it killed him.” Alexa’s eyes shot up and met her, utter shock and surprise in her eyes. Sofie shrugged. “It took a lot and my grandfather went through hell… but he got him pinned under a tree.” She scoffs and shakes her head. “The thing had a bomb on its wrist that it set off, but he managed to get away from the blast, but just barely.”

Sofie leaned back, glancing out the window and watching the sun set. “My Grandfather spared its life and it decided that dying and taking him out with it was better than the embarrassment of being spared by one of us.” Sofie shook her head. “A species like that… I don’t know, but I can’t imagine being stuck in an underground temple with one.”

Alexa frowned and looked up at the girl in front of her, who had just offered her a story nearly equal in horror as her own, and had just brushed it off like it was casual conversation. People had been skinned. Friends of her grandfather were murdered in front of her, and she just… shrugged it off and commented on the monster’s behavior as if he was just some asshole down the road who had knocked over some mailboxes in a drunken stupor.

Then again, growing up on someone’s knee who told her stories like this all her life probably normalized it.

Alexa locked eyes with the girl, who stiffened and seemed anxious once again. “It’s not fun, I can tell you that much.” Sofie leaned forward, interest glimmering in her eyes. Alexa frowned. “They’re _bigger_ than us. Heavier, too. When they walk it feels like the entire room is shaking. If one gets up close and personal, and looms over you, you just…” her hands curled into fists and she shook her head. “It’s utterly terrifying.”

“But you said they respected you-”

“I killed one of the Serpents, the… black, acid-blooded bastards by sheer luck. I don’t know why the idiot even looked twice at me in the first place. If I was no sport, he wouldn’t have tried to kill me twice.” The words she’d whispered to herself so many times ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’ echoed in her head and her teeth grinded against one another. She locked eyes with Sofie, frowning and adopted a scolding tone. “They respected me because I could kill one of those monsters, because I could keep up with a creature twice my size and weight, because I could kill a friend when he’s-” she choked and looked away, focusing sternly at the view of the ocean from outside the window. She trembled and she could vaguely feel Sofie grabbing her hand, a weak attempt at comforting her.

Alexa just grasped her hand in turn, startling the young woman and she hissed, “Do _not_ go after these things, Sofie. Don’t do it. They’re terrifying. No matter how amazing or awe inspiring they seem, no matter how much you think you can earn their respect, or whatever you hope from these things, don’t go after it. They’re monsters.”

Sofie’s expression turned confused and she defended sternly, “They have honor-“

“ _Monsters_ , Sofie.” Her grip got harder and she felt the girl flinch under the tight grip. “Leave them be. Forget about them. Your grandfather would say the same, I’m sure.”

Sofie looked away, snatched her hand back, and brooded. Was this girl stupid? Did she have a death wish? Did she want to have nightmares she couldn’t chase off? Have memories of her friends and family and team members slowly murdered one by one by a giant, malicious beast? The memory of the hunter she’d spent hours trailing behind, fighting with assaulted her and she stood, beginning to excuse herself. His mere memory filled her with trembling terror. How he’d roared at her and then- she touched her cheek absentmindedly, and she could feel the scar beneath layers of makeup.

She hated it.

There was a hasty goodbye, and then Alexa Woods was gone.

Sofie was left alone, shocked and… frightened? Humiliated? Angry? Perhaps. But that reaction was much different than the accounts she’d read. She’d read them and they’d always described Miss Woods being very defensive of the hunters and disparaging of the serpents. She had held respect for him and the others before. She’d only feared the serpents…

Yet this time, she was adamant about them being evil. Being monsters without any form of remorse or redemption. Was she lying or just… intimidated? Sofie looked away and then down at her hands. She looked at the callouses from her matches, at a few scars left over from old pet’s infanthood. Slowly, they curled into fists and her expression hardened into a determined scowl.

Forget them her ass. She was going to find them. Meet them. See what sort of beast her grandfather had fought tooth and nail to live for and had barely gotten out of it.

She wanted to know if they’d respect him for it. For defeating one of them. He’d be proud to know if they did and laugh if they didn’t.

Her heart grew leaden in her chest. She needed to find out for him before he forgot even the monsters that haunted his nights. She didn’t care if she’d get nightmares of her own. She just wanted him to have closure while there was still a part of him left to be salvaged.

 

* * *

 

 

Three nights and seven emails later, Alexa sat in front of her computer, her fingers knotted in her curly hair and her lips pursed into a rough snarl. This girl was unrelenting. Stubborn. She’d asked a thousand questions, ranging from general physical description to stories that sounded right. Alexa had answered her truthfully at first, but when the stories started to get eerily similar and oh too close to present times, she’d shut off. Warned her again and again and told her to get a new hobby.

And then this latest email… this _insult_ made her want to track down the girl and shove that spear she’d been ‘awarded’ down her throat.

 

_You’re a coward, you know that? You spent a whole day, probably more with one of those things and he saved you and you saved him. He didn’t once touch you to hurt you. You had his respect, which is more than what my Grandfather could claim. I’m not looking to get myself killed, I’m looking to see my Pops through the end of his life and getting one last final hurrah because, by God, he deserves rest from those damned dreams that still leave him screaming._

_It’s been ten years, Lex. They saved you. They haven’t come to skewer you with the weapon they gave you. If I was a warrior alien and learned that a worthy lower being like you had turned to mush out of fear over something so stupid, I wouldn’t come back either._

Alexa slammed her laptop shut and rubbed her mouth. How dare that brat. How dare she pull this shit on her. She’d been patient. She’d relived the horror for her. She’d even met with her in a very public area and talked about things she hadn’t mentioned in years to close friends in private.

And this was what she got for trying to help her.

A coward, Sofie called her. The brat didn’t know the half of it. She didn't know that when she killed the alien she was thinking nothing but ‘God save me save me save me save me’ over and over again. Nothing but ‘I don’t want to die’ was pounding around in her head.

It was an embarrassment. A worthy opponent? Bullshit. She was nothing more than a fake, created by sheer, dumb luck. She survived because she feared death more than the brute leading her around and saving her neck-

She froze in her silent tirade as a myriad of images played behind her eyes. The hunter providing her with a shield and spear. How he’d protected her and defended her. How they’d fought side by side.

How he’d been patient and waited until she understood, how no matter how many times he made the same motion over, and over again, he made sure she understood before he stopped. Communication. Respect. Concern, if you could call the little quirks of his head and pointed looks at wounds such a thing.

And the look in his eyes when he’s given her the mark.

Gentle. Respectful. Warm-

She stood up and marched into her room, grabbing gear as roughly and angrily as she could. She was going to climb a mountain. Climb the hell out of it and make it kneel before her before this day was over with. She’d show it who was boss and she’d tell it off. She’d tell the whole damned world. Damn Sofie and that Hunter both.

She was going to conquer her demons today whether they liked it or not.


	2. Trouble in Los Angeles

Sofie had spent hours in front of her computer. Her eyes hurt. Her fingers hurt. Her back hurt from too much skulking over her desk. She was so glad finals were over because this obsession would have made her fail them all in one day. She tapped the keyboard at a bruising pace, her eyes scanning the screen as article after article passed her scrutiny. So many were dead ends. Human cases where the monster of a human confessed to the brutal murders and was sentenced. Cold cases that were only vaguely reminiscent of the hunter’s telltale signs. Some stories that were too old to follow now.

She needed clues. Something. Anything. At this point, she’d be glad to have a bigfoot-esque picture.

 She had two thousand dollars, all pilfered from leftover grant and loan money that her dad would skewer her over wasting on something like this, but it was worth it.

She’d gladly pay the loans for school if she could get her Pops one final look into a monster’s eyes, and maybe a handshake. Anything to make him know that it was ok. He was ok. The monster was real and he didn’t have to doubt himself or think he was going crazy. He relived those days so often now that it was starting to wear on the nurses and on his health. She wanted to give him peace.

Sofie clicked on another report, and her eyes tiredly skimmed it before she stopped, her eyes snapping wide and adrenaline pumping through her.

 

_In a local case of brutality and morbid cruelty, another victim has fallen under the careful blade of ‘The Skinner’. Local law enforcement has been pushed out of the crime scene yet again, as the feds take over the gruesome task of investigating this horrid string of violent gang mutilations-_

It took only a minute of frantic searching, tearing through printed paper after clipped newspaper until she came across the right one. It was old, two decades of age, and she grinned at it. She’d gotten it from her grandfather, who had insisted that these murders were done by the monster he’d fought. Her father had waived him off and told him to stop filling his daughter’s head with horror stories. But Sofie had craved them.

So here she sat, comparing the clipping with a recent online report and she bit her lip in excitement. It was nearly identical, the feds getting mixed up, the murders, who was being murdered, and everything else. It all made sense.

It was happening in Los Angeles. They’d come back for round two, or whatever, and were playing their little game of cat and mouse.

Sofie smiled and opened up a new tab. All she needed now, was a two way ticket-

She paused. Or she could drive. That could work, too.

And it wouldn’t burn a hole in her pocket as fast. She was only two states away… it wouldn’t be that bad.

 

* * *

 

 

It was that bad. It’d taken her two days and way too much money to get to this stupid hellhole. Her ass was sore, her body was in need of stretching, and she still had to pick out a hotel which was less than pleasant in this city. It was midday, though! Maybe a bit of sightseeing would be best, see a few of the crime scenes and get acquainted with the locals.

Though she was certain it was more like she was getting aqauinted with the back of the car in front of her.

She drove around a little inch by inch and saw a few casinos, made awkward eye contact with a few women she was sure were hookers, and was redirected to another street whenever she came across the yellow tape. It felt like she’d gone to a madhouse. A madhouse of heat and perspiration and sticky sweat that made her feel like she was dirtier than just two days without a bath.

She loved her home, way up in Washington. She missed the rain and moss already.

The only thing she’d seen close to moss was some sort of mold growing on an old park bench.

Did she take a wrong turn? Hell, she had no idea where she was headed anyways. This could all be normal in LA. She’d barely made it out of her small town when she went to college and this was the furthest she’d ever been away from home.

Alone.

Lost.

Almost penniless.

The gravity of her situation hit her like a train and she felt despair fill her chest and burn her eyes. “Idiot,” she whispered, and veered off into a less busy street and made her way through traffic as tears threatened to spill.

Sofie drove to a safer looking part of town before she parked. She spent a few minutes staring at the torn leather of her steering wheel, memorizing the patters in it. She noticed the particularly rubbed areas, where her thumbs would caress the leather in panicked, frantic movements. She grabbed the steering wheel, intent on composing herself, but as soon as she touched it, that tick went off and she was rubbing the leather at a frantic, trembling pace. She let out a single wail and bashed her head against her wheel a few times. “Idiot,” she hissed at herself, halting her self-depreciating ministrations and hissing at her own misfortune. “Can’t do a damn thing right, can you? You go on a road trip without thinking and just bolt out. Dad’s going to skin you-”

Her thoughts centered on the task at hand. If worst came to worst she could call her father and have him pick her up. He’d scold her, yeah, but she was an adult. And the important part was that Pops would be proud of her, even as stupid a decision as it was. Because she was doing it for a damn good reason, damn the consequences and he’d respect her for that much. If he was in his right mind, he’d be right by her side and ready to crack a few more skulls.

If only her dad cared enough… maybe he would go on this trip, even if he thought it was a wild goose chase. He’d be able to spend some time with her. More time than her mother ever cared to. She set her mouth in a determined line. He wasn’t there. Neither was her mother, who could give less than a shit about anyone related to her father, let alone her. Sofie was there. Sofie cared. Sofie was brave and stupid enough to go after monsters to calm her grandfather’s fears. He’d given her strength and courage, held her afloat in the floundering years between her parents breakup.

He’d made her believe that man could break monsters and that made her stronger than she’d ever imagined herself to be.

She had the medals to prove it.

Renewed in courage and strength, Sofie stepped out of her vehicle, taking in the neighborhood once more, and upon deeming it to be safe enough to leave her car alone for an extended period of time, she shut and locked it and set off for the last known location.

If there was anything she knew about the monsters, they’d be looking for a fight. A good one, too. She cracked her knuckles and practiced a few trained punches, one’s she’d learned from her grandfather and other’s she’d perfected on her own.

She just needed their attention.

That’s all she’d need.

 

* * *

 

 

Alexa stumbled into her house, exhaustion teetering her body as she took long, shaking breaths. It’d been an arduous climb. She’d chosen a cliff-face that had taken longer than she’d initially planned, but it had cleared her mind. She’d had a night to sit atop the world in clear, cool air and had a chance to breathe. To be able to think, alone, and without the wildness of the world and city. Without prying eyes, digging into her most intimate thoughts and revelations and nightmares. Without demons popping up around her everywhere she went.

The Rocky Mountains held no threat to her, at least not at this time of the year. They felt safe, without cold, black, ancient walls or ice to frighten her. No aliens. No beasts. Nothing but nature. _Earth_ nature. She’d realized that the monsters were very far away, hidden by thousands of miles, maybe billions, and she’d been able to really examine her thoughts.

Sofie’s words, however blunt and cruel they’d seemed, were true. They were a harsh reality that left a bitter taste in Alexa’s mouth and she took a long, deep breath at the memory. She’d sat on top of the ledge she’d camped on, the stars and moon the only source of illumination. It wasn’t quite a hunter’s moon and in the cool, quiet light, she had let herself remember _him_.

Scar, she found herself calling him, had never once tried to hurt her after she’d killed the serpent. He’d given her space, let her think, and had dubiously crafted weapons she could use. He’d allowed her to kill Sebastian… her friend. He hadn’t forced her to do it, hadn’t muscled in and done it himself. He’d stood by, silent and respectful as he allowed her to spare her friend from the monstrosity readying to burst from his chest. She’d hated that memory, the feeling of having to shoot someone… someone she cared about.

Alexa supposed, under further scrutiny, that she blamed it on him. He could have killed Sebastian. He could have done it for her so she wouldn’t have to live with the guilt. Perhaps it merely wasn’t their way. Perhaps they had customs that didn’t allow them to kill someone in Sebastian’s predicament. Or maybe it was just solemn respect for her, or the knowledge that if he had done that, she would have resented him.

She supposed that it wasn’t even that nightmare that haunted her the most.

No, it came after the fight. After the terror.

It was a peaceful memory that kept her awake at night, not from fear. It was an emotion she couldn’t pin down and it eluded her like a lazer-light eluded a kitten.

In those moments where he took off his mask, where he’d roared at her, a challenge, maybe, or a test. Where she’d stood her ground, despite his appearance scaring the ever living hell out of her, and he’d calmed. His entire demeanor changed. His eyes went from burning amber to a gentle brown, and he’d taken off the claw and asked, he _asked_ , if he could mark her skin. That haunted her most.

And that gentle expression, soft and peaceful in that moment, had almost silenced the pain and the sizzling of her cheek. Never before, in her life of danger and adventure and tranquil moments on the ice, had she ever felt safer. He’d touched her chin, made a noise like a purr that sounded like a quiet praise, a compliment, before jerking back as his ship opened up. A score of his own race walked out of the light of his ship, welcoming him into a new chapter of his life. The mass of hunters greeted him proudly and glared at her.

The elder, or whatever he was, had taken her chin and inspected the mark. It felt like an eternity, his eyes cold and reading her. Under that gaze, she felt stripped and bare, everything in her screaming to pull away and snarl at him. But Scar had chittered at him, a small conversation that took most of his piercing gaze away, before she was gently released. The elder bowed his head to her, all scrutiny gone replaced solely with respect, and he offered her his own spear. She’d taken it, after an encouraging nod from Scar, and the elder stood, turned away, and walked off without so much as a goodbye, everyone following in his wake.

Only Scar had paused. It was a momentary hesitation and part of her wanted him to turn around and look back, to reassure her one last time and to fill her with confidence and peace like no other eyes ever had. The other part of her wanted him to be only a memory, gone and absent from her life for good.

He had obeyed the second wish and continued, entering the ship and leaving her alone on Earth. Alone, colder than she’d ever been before, and craving the presence of one of the most frightening monsters she’d ever encountered in her life. She had been scared to admit it before, but his absence in those cold, isolated hours had frightened her more than his presence _ever_ did.

Back at home, that realization was still ever present.

Her house was empty. Silent. She’d never gotten a pet. Never gotten a date she wanted to move in with. She’d hidden away from the world, and had taken years off of work using the astronomical check Weyland had offered her. She almost deemed it as too much. But it was more than enough to help her cope with the ordeal, bottle it up, and move on.

She sighed heavily and dropped her things as she walked her way to her laptop. She had an apology to write to that kid, Sofie… maybe she could help. Hell, if she got anything out of this, she could maybe find out what happened to Scar. Was he even still alive? She hoped so.

She almost froze as that thought assailed her.

She _hoped_ so.

Maybe she did. Maybe she had a soft spot for that _one_. Maybe she wanted to see him one last time. Just one. She laughed at her own naivety and sat down, opening her laptop.

She waited as her emails loaded, her nails tapping against the desk at an even, controlled pace. Her thoughts turned to her new acquaintance. _Sofie Schaefer_ , she recited to herself. _Twenty years old. Two time Girl’s Kickboxing International champion. Two gold medals._

She smiled at that thought. No wonder she still had spring in her step. A Grandfather who’d fought and killed a hunter all on his own, and two gold medals under her belt. What did this girl have to worry about?

There was a click and she was pulled from her reverie at the notification of three new emails. A schedule request for a climb, a bank notification, and one from Sofie-

 

_I Found Them._

 

Alexa’s blood ran cold and she opened the email, her hands shaking as she read it.

 

_They’re in Los Angeles. I attached a picture of the two linking articles, proving they’re there. I’m going to find them and talk to them. You can’t change my mind. I have to do this for my Grandfather. For ‘Dutch’. If you want me to say something for you, better tell me soon. I’m hot on their tails._

Alexa was out of the door before her laptop powered down.

The brat was going to get herself killed with that attitude! And it’d be all Alexa’s fault! She pushed the already encroaching guilt from her mind and she sped down the streets at a frightening speed. Sofie was too young to die by them. They’d recognize that, right? They’d see that childlike spark and write her off as a non-threat.

They had to.

_They had to._


	3. Thoughts, Memories, and Dreams

 

High, high above the city, where the noise only echoed, where voices weren’t coherent words so much as a low hum over the busy streets, two shadows sat hidden by walls and unobserved by anyone. One sat, hunched over his latest kill. The prey been a monster, even in this beast’s brutish eyes, and he had taken more pride in that kill than he’d taken in any of his previous kills. He scrubbed the bone, polishing it as it glowed, fresh, new. _Pristine_.

“You missed a spot.”

The hunched hunter tossed the cloth at its companion, who rumbled an amused chitter. “I wouldn’t be correcting the one with actual trophies. You have none!”

The smaller hunter just sat back, his amber eyes dim with contentment and quiet peace. “I did not come here to hunt, brother, you did. It’s the only reason I’m here with you now.”

The yautja just harrumphed at his companion’s intolerably relaxed tone and posture and set the skull next to his two other trophies.

His companion, smaller and darker in complexion, had long since taken off his mask and his armor was left back on their ship, much to his chagrin and his friend’s amusement at his concern. “If they skewer me, then we know who is really the better hunter!” he’d announced with a humorous glimmer in his eye.

He’d always been as such. Relaxed and morbid, but with a sense of thoughtfulness and philosophy so few of his kind considered.

The bigger one nodded, picking at the soft scales on his hands. He focused on the colorations of the scales, blues and greys mixed in his markings, while a musty white set him blazing against most hunting grounds. Even his tendrils, shamefully mimicking the age of the elder’s faded colors, were lighter. He was a joke among his people.  He stood out like a snapped mandible and had been mocked for it, belittled for it.

He’d found locations where he could hunt effectively. Wintery lands covered in ice and rock. Cold recesses of worlds where bigger, tougher game had marched and oh! how he had _hunted_ there. His collection was more robust than any of his fellow hunters could claim, and for that, and only that, was he ever able to hold his head high with pride.

Still, he knew he would never appreciate his colorations. No one ever would. During the Ruts, he would be passed up for stronger, more aggressive males with better camouflage. Browns, reds, greens… all were appreciated and admired. His companion, that deep brown and tan coloration so many females lusted for, was a perfect example.

But the accomplished hunter had never participated in the rut. He’d never been interested. Not once had he even lifted a claw towards a female who’d shown interest, and he’d merely gone to his hut to wait out the fevers.

The Grey Yautja had learned to follow suit after too many violent rejections that left him recovering for days. The fever would pass and he would be able to live on his life, only barely reminded of his shortcomings, of his ugliness. No matter how profound an impressive his collection, he was incomplete. He would always be.

Something hit him and he snapped out of his bitter thoughts by his chuckling companion, and he hissed. “What?”

“Nothing. You were just uncharacteristically distracted,” his companion leaned forward, eyes glinting with mirth. “This _is_ a hunt, you know.”

“A hunt with an overseer of my success. Proof that I complete this rite honorably and without falsehood.” His mandibles stretch, a mocking hiss slips through his teeth, and he shakes his head. “A joke, if there ever was one.”

“If it offers you any condolence,” his companion drawled, “I too, have been distracted.”

The Grey one clucked, a bark of laughter. “I know of your distraction, brother. It’s plain to any eye. Pathetic even. It has been… what, five hunting seasons?”

“Ten.”

“See. You know the number even. What made you so keen on counting all of a sudden, hm? That… ooman?”

The Brown one growled, his eyes flashing with a hint of anger. “She is one of us. Not by blood, but in bond.” He pointed to the mark on his crest, just between his brows. “She slayed the kiande amedha, just as I did. Just as you did.”

Grey-Skin scoffed. “Humans are too soft. Too _weak_. She’d never be able to manage such a feat.”

“They said the same about you.”

Brown-skin didn’t need to specify who. Grey-Skin knew. He’d heard their doubt, their judgement of the trophies he’d brought back. Very few believed they were his kills, no matter what the tests told them. His companion and a few elders were the only ones who had approved him. He had been sent on the test to kill the kiande amedha, the hard meat, and had lived.

The doubts ceased. At least to his face. His current predicament was proof enough of their faltering trust. “That pyode amedha got lucky.”

“Don’t we all?” His friend stood and proudly began to show the scars littering his body. “Do you remember this? How that hound would have ripped me apart had it not been for your intervention? One more moment and I would have been dumped onto the floor. And this one, back on the flooded planet, we…”

Grey-Skin looked away as his companion brought up triumph after triumph, all testaments to his luck, as he called it. _Skill_ Grey-Skin called it. He had trained for decades and had gone on countless hunts before he’d taken the test. Grey-Skin hadn’t had the luxury of choosing when, but still, he sported much less marks than his companion. “You,” he interrupted curtly, “are stupid and get yourself into far too much trouble.”

His scarred friend only bared his teeth, eyes flashing with mischief. “And you are overly cautious and do everything by the rules.”

“At least I do not make friends with weaklings and mark her with our clan,” he was offered a patient growl in turn, before he added with more of an edge, “as if she was yours to bring back.”

His friend was on him in an instant, righteous fury thundering in his skull as claws sunk deep into his throat. “I do not own her, nor was she something to be taken from her home as if she were some trophy!” He spat a curse at his friend before he gathered himself and leaned over his grey friend, anger still burning in his eyes. “You were not there. If you had been there, you would have seen her strength. Her courage. How her base fear crumbled beneath her determination to live and to save her world, her people, as little and simple a sentiment as it may seem to you.”

Grey-Skin pushed off his companion with a hiss. “You’re in a particularly foul mood, brother.”

Scar returned to his perch and sat his head back, a heavy breath leaving him and calming him in an instant. “I have not slept this hunt,” he confessed quietly, the admittance of his own inability to take care of himself surprising to his companion.

“Nightmares or dreams?” he inquired warily.

“Thoughts. Memories. Wishes-”

Grey-Skin snorted and shook his head before cupping his maw in his claws and asking, a mocking purr curling his words, “Your sweet little human haunting you again?”

Scar let out a sigh and looked away. He felt as distant as he looked, as if his soul had lifted from his body and moved on to other places. To better places. Grey-Skin could only imagine what miserable concoctions he’d stirred in that sap filled mind of his friend and he knew exactly what was coming as soon as another sigh left him. “She was like a warm summer’s day. Her eyes were the color of resin. Her skin was dark, touched by the sun.”

Scar’s companion had heard a similar speech many times before and rolled his eyes. It was not so impressive the seventy-sixth time around. Even _he_ , with all his distain and distaste for humans, had been affected by such a speech the first time he’d heard it, but he knew his partner meant nothing other than to call the creature ‘beautiful’. He had never encountered a human who was ‘beautiful’, nor did he ever think he would. Beauty was hard, it was fire. It was danger and speed and strength, skill and venom. It wasn’t soft and squishy like humans.

Grey-Skin leaned his head back, intent on taking a breather. “Regale me another time of her perfect little form,” he interrupted his partner curtly. “I have battles to relive.”

“What battles? The one’s that stir in you armor?”

Another rag was tossed at Scar, who laughed heartily at his friend’s expense, but his teasing ceased as Grey-Skin closed his eyes and drifted off.

He was left alone to his thoughts, and he looked up into the sky and wished that the humans weren’t so frightened of the dark that they could turn off their little lights and see the stars for what they were. He’d seen stars in her eyes. Reflections of the crystals that painted the sky. He’d seen golden flecks in them, too. And those flecks were worth more to him than every single trophy he had ever earned.

To be able to see the fire in them once more, he would give anything.

Anything.

 

* * *

 

 

It was nearly morning when Scar was roused, his friend’s blood red eyes flashing with excitement and energy. “Come, come!” he chided, pulling him to his groggy feet and dragging him to the edge of the building. He looked over the edge, where the human city was just beginning to wake, and his brows raised in interest as he followed his friend’s claw.

A human female, paler than his own, stood in front of a pile of humans, crumpled and holding their noses and arms as if she had given them a good thrashing. She took a menacing step towards them and they scuttled away before sending her a threat and running. The girl wiped her brow as if she’d greatly exerted herself and turned away, continuing on down the road.

“You didn’t see the fight, but it was glorious, brother. No weapons, only fists, and they all fell before her. That is a warrior I’d like to slay.”

Scar’s eyes lingered on the human, who seemed little less at ease than she had been before and he sighed. He knew there was nothing he could say to change his friend’s mind, to get him to go after someone else… someone worth more than just killing. “I am not certain she is…. Worthy. She seems too young-”

“All humans are young,” his companion interrupted him. “She is mine.”

Scar let out a long, shaky breath before he looked back at the girl. She was wary, nervous and calculating. His eyes hardened with thought. “Wait-”

“You cannot convince me not to go-”

“I am not. But look at her. See how she is jumpy? She is afraid of something but she wasn’t afraid of her own people.”

Grey-Skin frowned, his eyes matching in harsh realization and he kneeled, chittering. “What does she fear, if not her own kind?”

They exchanged a glance. “Do you suppose-”

“I’ve never seen her before.”

Scar nodded, looking down at the human as she approached the site of his partner’s kill from the night before, and the human paused outside of it, beyond the pathetic barrier the human peace keepers had risen. She ran her fingers through her thin tendrils before continuing on and looking around.

Scar and his grey friend felt an encroaching suspicion in their bellies, and they both rumbled in their chests.

This human wasn’t like the peacekeepers they knew tracked them. But she was not ignorant, either.

She knew of them.

He sensed his friend’s renewed excitement, but a hollow and foreboding emotion filled him. Was this one like his human? A survivor? Or was she something else entirely? “My friend, rethink-”

He turned to where his companion had just been and growled low in his throat. “Fool.”


	4. Panic Attack

 

Alexa dialed the same number, over and over and over again, hoping for a reply. She didn’t think the kid was stupid enough to leave her phone at home, but there she was, not answering her damned phone when she should be!

“Idiot, pick up your phone!” she nearly screeched into it and then tossed it aside. This wasn’t working. She’d spent all night driving to this hellhole of a town, covered in news stories about the brutal murders, and now she couldn’t find the kid who’d gotten herself in more trouble than she understood.

Talking with them was like talking to a wall unless you earned their respect. Other than that, you were a wolf, prey only worth killing and mounting on a wall for everyone to see. She didn’t want to see Sofie butchered by one of those things, no matter how rude and impertinent the girl had been.

She drove through the streets, not knowing where she was headed or where she was going, and panic coursed through her. Sofie was hotheaded and stubborn and didn’t think before she did things. She’d gathered that much from the kid, but this girl was far from stupid. She had, after all, tracked down these monsters and found them much quicker than Lex had anticipated.

It wasn’t much of a comfort and it made her feel worse about the entire situation. Sofie had run headlong into a situation she didn’t know how to deal with and it was going to be the end of her. She stopped at a backup, where a cop car was parked and a few greasy looking men were pressed up against a car. One of them was writhing under the cop and screaming curses at the top of his lungs, and she caught three words that made her blood turn cold.

“ _Fucking white bitch_ got me in the nose, motherfucking whore! You should be after that son of a bitch, not fucking me!”

It couldn’t be Sofie. It wasn’t Sofie-

“Right,” the cop responded impatiently. “Little girl beat up a bunch of pricks like you and your gang buddies. I believe that story.”

“Fuck you, man, she had some sort of boxing training or something, took us out without breaking a fucking sweat!”

Alexa was out of the car.

“Ma’am this is police business-”

“What did the girl look like?” she asked the man pressed up against the car. The criminal shot her a vicious look.

“White bitch,” he responded. “Black hair. Blue eyes. Taller than you.” He sneered. “Probably not as nice of a pussy-”

The cop yanked him up and shoved him down into the cab of the car, interrupting his disgusting attempt at hitting on the woman. “Sorry, miss. I don’t know if that’s the girl you’re looking for. Please get in your vehicle and have a nice day.”

“Wait! Wait!” she approached the man, still struggling against the cop to get back out, and he paused, glaring at her. “Where was she? Did you know where she went?”

The man jerked his head towards the road to their right. “Bitch was headed towards the old hotel the skinner last hit.” He got a nasty smile. “Hope she gets hers at that fucker’s hand-”

The cop managed to get him inside and slammed the door before he could get out and add another vicious remark. “In your car ma’am. _Now_.”

Alexa could only offer a nod, her throat was too dry to hear him. She got back in her car, shaking. Sofie was an idiot, a stupid, fucking idiot.

She was going to die because she stuck her neck out in things she didn’t understand no matter how noble her cause, and it was going to kill her.

The Hunters were going to get her.

She put her car in gear and turned down the road the gangster had tossed his head in and set her mouth in a grim line. She’d stop them. She’d tell them off and have them kill her before they ever touched Sofie.

She’d rather die than have another person weigh on her consciousness.

She spotted the building, taped off and locked up tight. The Feds had taken over it, she could tell, and she parked her car across the street from it and looked around. There wasn’t any sign of Sofie, and she didn’t want to have a closer look. “Sofie?” she called, cautiously and quietly. She stepped, lightfooted and cautious as she looked around, wary for anything that would jump out at her.

Thirty feet above her head, something heard her voice and halted, freezing down to its very core. I knew that voice. It had played it over and over again and it jumped onto the ledge, peering down at the nearly empty street. Its eyes focused on the sole creature standing on the concrete, and it took a long, deep scent of the air.

It took a moment to find the _right_ scent, the scent riddled with fear and nervousness, but it found it. _Her_ scent. Its human’s sent. For only the second time in its life, it hesitated. How could one being, so fragile, so small, fill it with such a fear that froze it in its tracks? This one being that it had fought alongside and protected, that had earned its trust and respect…

How could _she_ make _him_ scared?

And over such a foolish thought as _‘how will she look at me?’_

He growled a moment, frustration filling him as he continued to stay still. The fear filling the scene filled him with resolve, he knew what he had to do, yet he still could not bear to see the fear in her eyes once more.

Ten seasons… ten seasons apart. How could he approach her now?

There was only one way to find out, and his fear released him as he began his decent down to her level. He was silent at first, but as he neared, he realized two things.

He did not have his armor.

And he was not camouflaged.

He let out a frustrated hiss and realized too late that it was too loud.

The human looked up and met his eyes and she froze.

They both did.

Alexa looked upon the façade of a being that had haunted her nightmares, and Scar faced the creature that had lingered in his dreams.

It was a painfully long moment, and Scar continued his decent, slow, unthreatening, and purring at her.

With every move he made, she took a step back. Alexa didn’t want to anger this Hunter, especially if it wasn’t Scar, but she’d be damned if she let one anywhere near her, no matter if he didn’t wear his armor.

It felt like an aching eternity, but Scar finally reached the ground, hidden in the darkened alley, and beckoned to the human.

She didn’t move and stayed in the all too open air of the street. “No.”

Scar growled in frustration and came closer, all too close to the world of the humans, and motioned again, this time to the scar on his forehead, and then to her cheek.

Alexa’s brown eyes widened and she felt her heart stop in her chest.

It was him. Scar.

It had to be.

These things didn’t take off their masks unless they were showing respect. They certainly didn’t approach prey without their armor or weapons.

So, she took a step closer, and he took a step back. Another step forward, another back.

It was the most painful waltz she’d ever experienced and she hated it.

Finally, they were in the alley together, and Scar looked at her. She was just as beautiful as the last hunt they’d met on. Dark and beautiful, but filled with anxiety and fear. He walked towards her, closing the distance he’d maintained to assure her he wouldn’t harm her and he felt relief when she didn’t back away.

She could see his eyes in the dim light, and they weren’t threatening.

They were just like when he’d marked her cheek. Soft. Gentle. Comforting. Safe. The monster she’d built him up to be crumpled in an instant, the beast turning to a friend and she let him come to her.

He stopped, just a foot in front of her. His amber eyes looked over her features, scouring her face for something she didn’t quite understand, and then he raised his hand and touched her cheek, right where he knew he’d marked her. It had been hard to see, but he could feel it. The knowledge that she still bared his mark made his chest swell with pride and happiness. “ **Lex** ,” he said, his voice rasping in the soft language he’d heard her title called in.

She froze at the noise, her name being repeated on a foreign mouth was certainly disconcerting, and Scar offered her what little of a smile he could. She certainly felt it was a smile, if the increased warmth in his eyes meant anything. Gathering her thoughts and courage, Alexa steeled her nerved and said, “I need your help.”

He cocked his head at her, intrigued, and he pulled his hand back, tightening it into a fist, and put it to his chest. He bowed his head, his eyes never leaving hers, and she knew she had his attention. “A friend came through here earlier. She’s young. Stupid. She’s looking for you and your people with the intention of getting you to talk to her. Have you seen her?”

Scar frowned at her, cocking his head once again as he considered the few run ins with humans he’d had over the days he’d been on Earth.

“She had black hair. Taller than me. I don’t know what she was wearing, but she beat up a few assholes earlier.”

Scar stiffened at the memory and looked at Alexa, his eyes burning with an emotion she couldn’t quite place on him. He chittered a moment, clearly disturbed and shifted before grabbing her shoulder.

“ **Friend hunt.** ”

She paused, hoping that didn’t mean what she thought it meant. “Is your friend… hunting her?”

His eerie stillness and searing expression made her hold her breath, and just barely caught the nod that shook his tendrils.

Alexa’s eyes went wide and her blood ran cold, “No...”

Scar could scent her fear and despair even before she fell to her knees, and he caught her arm and pulled her back up. He grasped her shoulder and chittered, his grip hard and firm as he pounded his chest once and pointed at her. “She’s just a child!” came her reply. “And she’s going to die because I’m… I’m a fucking coward.”

Scar growled at her and before she could say anything, he effortlessly picked her up and set her on his back and began to climb, pulling the both of them onto the building as he locked onto the scent of his comrade. He growled lowly at himself as he started the chase, and all but missed the hopeless sob that escaped Lex.

In that moment, the Yautja vowed _never_ to be the cause of that sound coming from her ever again.

 

* * *

 

 

A block away, Sofie was running for her life. She hadn’t ever expected them to be this fast. This ruthless. This unwilling to listen to a damn thing she said! “You fucking _moron_ I’m not prey! I want to talk to you!”

Another blast hit just a few feet away from her, and she couldn’t help but get the feeling this thing was playing with her. Mocking her. Egging her on.

God, if she hated anything, it was _that._

She turned a corner and slid to a halt, about facing as she readied to come face to face with the monster, but nothing but that warping outline of the massive beast met her. “Fight me like you mean it,” she challenged him, raising her fists. “If you’re really the hunter you think you are, turn off the shitty camouflage and raise your fists.”

It clicked at her, the chilling noise of it echoing into her belly and she snarled at him. “What, too chicken to fight an unarmed girl?”

It growled at that and the warping got closer as she backed away, keeping the distance between them as well as she could. It had really long strides. “ _Now_ you can’t take a damn insult. You won’t listen to a damn word I say unless I insult you so what else am I supposed to do?” she growled at her predicament and shoved a finger at him as he continued his approach.

“You know what? I’m sick of all of this. I’m sick of having to deal with dicks who won’t listen to me until I raise my fists! I’m sick of having to fight for the attention of my mother and having to follow every single _minute_ detail of my father’s compiled list for how I should live my life and having to deal with his bullshit whenever I miss a step! I’m tired of not living up to people’s expectations and then losing the _only_ people who ever mean anything to me!”

In a sudden bout of frustration and rage, she charged him, startling him just enough to get her a single hit in, and her fist collided with his belly in a brutal uppercut, with all the force of her weight and strength, and he bent over her, gasping and winded. “ _Fuck_ all of you,” she growled, rolling away and giving him space to get his breath back.

“I’m done living up to all these checklists. Kill me if you want. I’ll haunt your ass till the day you die.”

She turned her back on him, just as he was beginning to stand and her anger subsided as she walked away. It was terrifying. Horrifying. She had just vented on a giant alien who killed humans for sport and she had made it clear she was a worthy opponent because she was annoyed!

She should have curled up and cried.

She should have begged him for mercy and given him her last wishes and _maybe_ he’d have spared her or given her a phonecall or something.

But no, now he probably had a hard on for her and wanted her dead more than anything else in the universe-

A metallic sound whistled right past her ear. A few of her dark hairs flew in front of her face. She froze as the wicked blade collided with the wall across from her, half of its body stuck in the brick.

“ _You_ fucking _moron_ ,” her voice played back at her, garbled and warped and filled with venom that sent her blood running ice cold. She took one breath. Two breaths.

She slowly turned around and her breath caught in her throat. There he was. All eight feet of him, rippling mass and muscle. Skulls hung over his chest, armor covering only some of it, and she swallowed back a lump of fear as it reached up and unhooked its mask.

“Oh god, no, no no,” she backed up, fear filling her to the very brim, and she felt her eyes burn, threatening to overflow. “Keep it on, for the love of God, keep it on!”

But the Predator didn’t listen and took it off, and a white and grey face glowed at her, mouth a horrible amalgamation of mandibles and sharp teeth and tusks. Whiskers stood over its brows and cheek bones and all of it looked monstrous. _Predatory._ It snarled at her, rumbling in rage and challenge.

She had earned its respect.

And now she was going to die.


	5. Brutality

This human was either dumber or braver than Grey-Skin thought.  She wasn’t as soft as he’d assumed human females to be but he wasn’t going to let her catch him off guard _again_. He flexed his hands as she balled her small little fists, her eyes hardening as her fear dissipated and resolve seemed to come back into her entire body, as small and weak as it was.

Her eyes hardened and that cold flame burned in the blue depths once again, and both of his hearts stuttered. He found himself admiring her stature, small and sturdy. She was strong. Soft like all humans, yes, but that hard expression, the way her knuckled turned white, and the way her eyes flashed as they met his and anchored him where he stood.

It wasn’t fear.

No, it was far from it.

“Come at me, bro,” she said, lifting her fists and moving to a proper fighting stance and she beckoned him with a hither-to curl of her fingers.

In all of his days a more welcoming, challenging, and enticing display had never been put before him by anyone, neither of his species or another, and he wasn’t sure how he wanted to react to this beckoning. Had he gone mad from his friend’s rambling of humans? Had he lost his mind in the mere minutes he’d been separated? He felt two different forms of excitement fill him, one of the hunt, and another he did not want to associate with a human female.

_Never_ a human female.

So he advanced, baring his teeth at her and growling, his claws bared and ready to rend her flesh from her body.

But she met him, footing sure as his own as she dodged a hit, jabbing him twice in his side. He swiped at her as she ducked again, slipping behind him, and he hissed as she came back around and hit his other side.

“Enough!” he hissed in his own tongue, roaring at her as he grabbed her out of the air, startling her, and he tossed her into brick. She hit the wall and fell the distance of her own height to the ground, and she gasped, curling and rasping, desperate to ease her pain.

And the damnedest feeling of shame, anger, and pity roiled through his mind. He shouldn’t be feeling this way about… soft meat, about pyode amedha! She was prey. She was lesser. She was weak and pathetic and nothing more than a trophy! He was fighting her on equal terms, dammit all! The anger fueled his quickened steps as he opened his blade, baring it to the world, and he growled, lowly and angrily in his throat and stood over her, intent on getting this all over with and just killing her.

“Wait,” she gasped, lifting a hand in a manner that begged placation. She struggled, her hand never wavering as he loomed over her, his eyes boring into her very being and he chittered, “Hurry up, Weakling.”

Finally, the human managed to sit up and she looked up at him, her eyes meeting his without flinching or fear. “You can kill me… I don’t care just… I need to ask you a question.”

Grey-Skin growled and answered her only by pressing her face into the wall behind her with his foot. He didn’t take last requests from game like her. This had already wasted too much of his time and he was questioning whether she was as worthy of prey as he had initially thought.

Instead of panicking and begging, though, he was met only with a sigh. “Fine,” he heard, muffled, and her hand shot out, lighting fast, and pain erupted in his knee. He screamed as he wrenched away, his green blood oozing out of the knife wound, expertly placed between two bones that made movement excruciating with each step.

“Learned that from my Pops,” the girl hissed and she rushed past him as he struggled to keep up with her, limping on one leg. He pulled out the blade, a wicked hunting knife he hadn’t bothered to scan her for. “Hurts like a _bitch_ , doesn’t it?”

He roared at her, trying to follow her movements, but his wound slowed him down and he was getting dizzy. He caught sight of her, just out of the corner of his eye, and he reached to grab her from the air. But the only thing he felt of her was the soft, sweet caress of her black tresses, impossibly thin and graceful and filling his senses with her intoxicating scent—

White erupted in his eyes. Pain was all he knew. He was on his face, barely able to make a noise as his hands traveled to his groin and he whimpered.

“Oh yeah, suck it, assface,” the girl chortled above him. He could barely see her through the stars still dancing in front of his eyes, but he saw her thrusting her hips and smirking at him. “You ain’t gonna be having kids for the next fucking _century_!”

He barely managed a feeble hiss and swipe at her, but she just hopped over it, like a playful dance step, and she bowed. “Nice try, but all is fair in love and war!”

She continued to giggle at his expense as he struggled to get back on his feet, before a bark of familiar laughter erupted from down the alley.

Both of them turned to see Scar and another human female, the human slack jawed and shocked, while Scar was bent over and wheezing, staggering beneath the intensity of his own laughter.

Grey-skin was instantly at his feet, and the girl backed off, but he just pointed one shaking claw at her. “She got me in an erogenous zone! That is _cheating_!”

Scar only laughed harder and fell flat on his hind, his mandibles spread wide in an attempt to help him breathe a little better as he struggled to suck in air in his mirth.

Getting no help from him, Grey skin turned on the girl and shoved a claw in her direction. “ **Cheat**.” He accused her in her own tongue.

The female’s eyes went wide and her mouth went slack jawed in obvious offence. “Cheat! That was fucking fair compared to all the shit you have! Where’s my years of training? Where’s my alien gun? Where’s my armor and claws and general lack of common decency, hm?” She shoved a finger back at him. “You’re the cheater, pussy-face.”

He roared at her, this time intent on killing the human cjit, but the other human was in between them in an instant, pulling his prey away from him. “Sofie, seriously, stop that, he’s going to kill you.”

“Pfft! He’s done a shit job so far and I feel like going a few more rounds with him!” the girl offered him a few teasing punches, obviously not meant to either illicit a true attack, nor meaning any true harm and Grey-Skin growled at her, wanting to crush her skull between his hands.

Scar materialized by his side, still laughing, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Humans. They surprise you every day.”

Grey face growled, his mandibles stretching as he snarled at the whole situation. “Who’s your friend?” he asked in a low hiss.

“That,” Scar replied, his entire demeanor changing, “is Lex.”

Grey face started, forgetting his offended pride and looked at the human, who was worrying about the girl who’d made a proper fool out of him. She was even smaller than the one he’d fought. But she held up to the descriptions Scar had regaled of her. But he sensed no strength. No resolve. There was nothing bold and daring in her.

But there wasn’t that stupidity in her like the other one, either.

Grey face growled, still embittered at what had transpired, and marched off to retrieve his mask. He’d been embarrassed enough. It was time to pack up and leave, whether it be the planet or just this hunting ground, he didn’t care. He just wanted to leave.

Scar only shook his head and looked at the girl, who, for all intents and purposes, looked fine. In fact, she looked considerably good for someone his friend had been hunting all the early hours of that morning. Had he played with her or had she been that good? He would get the story later, but it still intrigued him.

He walked up to Alexa, who offered him only a frown over her shoulder and continued to worry over the girl.

This human, he noted, was indeed taller than Lex. She could easily glance over the top of her companion’s head and wink at him, which she did. Such a strange custom, that wink. She was built thicker than Lex, too, with more power and weight to her, but she was paler, with darker hair, and piercing blue eyes. She wasn’t warm like Lex and he had a suspicion that, had she been put into the situation Lex had, she woudn’t be here today. Still, despite her flaws in temperament, she was just as impressive in an entirely different manner.

Her eyes met his without fear, and he became acutely aware that he was baring his face before her without her earning that right. How could she look upon him without flinching? Even Alexa, who he had been fighting alongside for hours, had flinched beneath his gaze. Did this one have no fear, or merely no brain?

“Geeze, none of them are very pretty,” Sofie said, whistling under her breath, and Lex immediately hit her head.

“You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?”

Sofie shrugged. “I don’t care, really. I mean my Grandfather killed one of them, so they can’t be _that_ good.”

Both Yautja stopped in their tracks and looked directly at Sofie with a ferocity and intensity that made her feel very, very small.

She swallowed nervously as Lex began to push her down the way they’d come. “Idiot, you’re a damned idiot-”

The lighter Yautja pushed Scar out of the way and replayed her claim, “-- _Grandfather killed one of them_ \--” He trilled, chirping intensely before Scar pushed him out of the way.

“ **Lex** ,” he said, “ **True**?”

Lex froze as the two hunters intensely stared at her, demanding an answer, but she had none. She couldn’t damn Sofie to death and she couldn’t mollify them if her friend had just offended them. Scar, she knew, but this other one she didn’t and he was bigger and meaner than her protector. She didn’t know what would happen.

Unfortunatey for her Sofie had the same sense of pride and she puffed out her chest, standing tall. “Yes he did. One of you bastards stalked his team, killing them off one by one for fucking sport. He got tired of it and saved the last person alive and then set up traps and hid himself from your stupid technology that makes things so damn easy for you. Here’s the catch, though. He could have killed him. He had him pinned, he had that spear readied and was going to kill him.”

Her eyes hardened and she spat, “Instead of having to bear the weight of being spared by a lesser species, he set off your little arm bomb and killed himself in an attempt to off my grandfather, too.” She grinned widely, pride rolling off of her in waves. “But my Grandfather survived. I grew up hearing stories about you monsters. How terrifying you were. How my grandfather, who weighed two hundred something had a hell of a time taking you down. I come from a line of monster killers. That’s more impressive than any skull you can wrench from us.”

With that last hurrah, Sofie turned on her heel and walked away, not waiting for a response.

Lex was left in the wake of the hot headed girl and she shuddered beneath the searing gazes of the two hunters as she glanced at them both.

Scar’s expression was as inscrutable as the mask his companion wore, and she felt her blood run cold.

She turned from their stoic glares, calling softly, “Sofie-”

“You coming, Lex?”

The name snapped both of the Yautja out of their reverie and they looked at each other. Scar waited for his companion to react, to say something or prompt his partner, even he didn’t know. This wasn’t a common occurrence enough for them to know what to do. Finally, Grey-Skin looked at Lex, causing her to back up, fear woven thick into her scent, and he just shook his head, mumbled in his own language, and growled as he stalked towards Lex.

She backed up, intimidated by the encroaching figure, but he brushed by her, barely even touching her as he continued his advance on Sofie. “No, _wait_ -!”

Scar’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. There was no malice in his friends swift steps, no matter how perturbed he looked. It was in his nature to not take defeat or humbling well, his people had made sure of it, and to be humbled by a human was a particularly severe blow. Still, he was taking it… surprisingly well.

Alexa, unable to read anything of her foreign companions, could only watch as the bigger Hunter grabbed Sofie in a similar way and pulled her back to look at him. There was only a hint of fear in her eyes, a touch of panic as she feared she’d said her last idiotic thing, but his hand was off of her and he took a step back, easing her of his massive and looming presence.

Sofie could only watch in mild horror as he pulled off the mask and looked at her. She could see his eyes up close now, and they were blood red, boring into her and making her tremble and back away from his cold glare. And then they softened, with what emotion, she couldn’t place, and he tucked his mask under his arm, his eyes locking on the human’s before him, and he bowed his head, his fist to his chest.

The motion of respect and reverence, of _submission_ , was not lost on her, or anyone else, and it was a solemn moment that no one dared to break.

Sofie merely stared at him, awestruck and silent for the first time since Lex had met her. The Hunter lifted his head, meeting her eyes, and her mouth snapped shut as embarrassment flushed through her cheeks. That look seared her. She didn’t know why, but it set her entire body on fire in a way she didn’t understand. It felt like pride. It felt like respect. It felt like the familiar presence of a bodyguard over her shoulder. It was everything and nothing all at once and she shifted, her throat drying up. “Was… that for me or my grandfather?”

“— _Grandfather_ —” came the instant reply. (Too instant, if Scar knew his friend any better.)

Sofie’s entire visage softened and she looked at the monster in front of her and stared at him.

Grey-Skin shifted under her gaze, giving her a bit more space, and he found that he couldn’t quite meet her eyes. There was something vulnerable about the look in them now, the fire gone and nothing but shock and awe in her eyes. The burning ice in them was gone and it… concerned him? Did it really illicit such a weakling response from him? Were all human females so… Incapacitating? 

Suddenly her lip quivered, a motion Grey-skin wasn’t unfamiliar with, and he jumped. Had he frightened her? She certainly didn’t smell it—

His thoughts were interrupted as she jumped at him and hugged him about the waist, and he froze, blinking at her and her utter disregard for personal space. He looked up at Scar, seeking help, but his friend only cocked his head to the side, as mystified as he was. And then she sobbed, her grip tightening as she began to cry.

The Grey-skinned hunter looked at Lex for help next, but she shook her head, not understanding, either. She’d barely understood Sofie’s reasons for finding them, let alone speaking to them. S knew it had something to do with her Grandfather and that he had a limited amount of time but beyond that… nothing.

Grey-Skin could only look down at the sobbing human touching him in such an intimate and vulnerable embrace and he could do nothing. What could he do? He’d don’t nothing to frighten her to tears. Did she cry for some other fear or was she merely broken?

If either were the case, he didn’t like her tears and the way she allowed herself to be so weak and open in front of strangers. Someone could be stupid enough to take it for their advantage and Grey-skin would very displeased with whoever tried that.

An arm slithered around her waist and his red eyes flashed as he dared unseen foes to attack this strange, fiery and vulnerable human.

Let them _try_.


	6. Sincerity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a few other ideas for this chapter that would be silly, but i decided to stick to the initial plan. (Don't worry,Le Star-Lord, you'll get your "Zoo Wee Mama" I promise)
> 
> Since I've gotten a bit better about actually thinking through rough unplanned chapters, I'll probably stick to writing one chapter a day so I don't burn myself out too quickly. I'm glad It's gotten so much attention so far, though! Thank you all for reading!!!

It was awkward. Silent. Sofie felt as if she’d done something horribly wrong by breaking down in front of these hunters, because now the blue one wouldn’t leave her side and looked like he wanted to rip someone apart.

Scar had escorted them to their camp, which was situated on top of a building (much to Sofie’s chagrin) and Alexa had excused herself to fetch her and Sofie some coffee some time before. So here she was, sitting in the midst of two hunters, one that had tried to kill her sitting uncomfortably close. She wiped her nose across her sleeve, uncertainty running through her and she shifted, swallowing back a lump that had grown in her throat.

“S-so…” Sofie said quietly, addressing the greenish-brown one. “You uh… know Lex?”

He nodded.

And apparently that was the only response she was getting.

“You were the one in the temple, protecting her, weren’t you?”

He nodded once more.

Sofie nodded her head, slower and buying for time as she tried to think of something to talk about. She knew they understood her, but judging by the way they growled out small phrases and used voice clips to communicate, it was hard. She could understand that, since they had no lips, so to speak. She watched as his mandibles clicked together and he rumbled, sitting forward and inspecting her.

She leaned back maintaining the distance they’d nurtured before, frowning a little at his scrutiny. It was hard to understand their expressions as he locked eyes with her and then slowly scanned the rest of her. His gaze didn’t feel invasive, lucky for him, but it certainly didn’t feel welcome. “Stop staring at me…” she said, her voice hoarse.

His amber eyes caught hers once more and he sat back, lounging on the edge of the building. “ **How defeat him**?”

The question confused her, before the alien next to her barked at his companion and rumbled. She looked up at him, and she could almost feel the anger roiling off of him. She coughed a little. “I… It was more of a draw, actually,” she corrected, and immediately those red eyes were on her, searing her so fiercely she looked away. “I um… pissed him off when I got him in the belly,” she touched the area she’d initially hit him. “I had to use everything I had just to wind him. He thought I was a worthy opponent or whatever and took off his mask. I tried to get him a few more times and he threw me into a wall. I…” she shifted a little bit away from the alien sitting next to her, acutely aware that he’d gone still as a stone and silent as the grave. “I stabbed him in the knee, sorry about that,” she added offhandedly, “and he got slower and I… got him in the dick.”

The green one laughed at the final announcement, a mean chortle, and his partner hissed at him, his hackles risen.

“ **Not cheat, not cheat** ,” the green one laughed, shaking his head. He bowed his head and put a fist to his chest and nodded at her, an obvious sign of respect.

The blue one next to her continued to growl, obviously annoyed at his friend’s amusement at his expense, but Sofie laughed a little as well. “It’s not the lowest blow I’ve used before,” she admitted, looking away. “Once said something about an opponent’s mother to get her pissed.”

That made both of them laugh, though the blue one was more reserved in his mirth than the bellowing chortle of the green one, and Sofie couldn’t help but smile a little more. Still, they were intimidating and she questioned her sanity at the time of her actually facing down with the blue one. He was terrifying. Huge. When he’d pulled her to his chest as she cried, she’d felt like she’d stepped into an oven and had been wrapped up in marble. It hadn’t felt bad, per se, but in the already miserably hot temperature, it was uncomfortable.

But not as uncomfortable as his cold glare. Or the way he seemed to take up so much room and breathe in her very comfort, leaving her unguarded and stifled all at once. The other one’s presence was much more relaxed and reserved, almost lounging as he picked at his claws and rumbled in contentment. She’d heard cats purr before, but this sounded like a diesel truck in idle.

The one sitting next to her offered her no such sound, only his suffocating presence. Was he mad at her? Was he bitter about the wound to his pride or on his knee-? “Oh shit!” Immediately Sofie jumped forward and inspected the wound, and her breath caught in her throat as he jerked away and roared at her, daring her to come closer. “Sorry! Sorry! I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dying!”

He stopped growling, but he didn’t move from his defensive position until his companion barked at him, and tossed him a box. Blue sent her one last venomous look before he walked away, turning his back on her and sitting on an air vent.

The green one watched and shook his head, rolling his eyes as he sighed. “ **Impatient. Not used to nice.** ”

Sofie nodded her head, feeling her heart rageing in her chest and she cleared her throat. “Yeah, well… guess I’ll just have to be more careful, huh?” she laughed a little and shifted, rubbing the back of her neck. “So… um… what should I call you two?”

The Yautja cocked his head, confused by the question. Alexa hadn’t ever needed to address him in the temple before, since it was just the two of them, but he supposed there were more of them now and communication would become confusing fast. He knew that human titles were often individualized, and didn’t quite have anything to do with rank or accomplishments. They referred to them as ‘names’ as well, though he didn’t know the difference between the two.

“ **What you call us**?”

Sofie blinked at the question and glanced at the other alien, who had taken sudden interest in the conversation and was sending her a very dangerous, very threatening, and very vengeful glare.

Grey-skin was daring her to call him by one of his titles. Daring her to point out his ugliness and worthlessness. To refer to him as only ‘Blooded’ as if he didn’t deserve the titles of Elite or Slayer of the Hard Meat. He wanted her to test his patience and mettle. He would meet her head on.

Instead, the human seemed meek and unsure, and her scent was riddled with fear that sent his stomach twirling in nauseated disharmony. Why did this human have such an effect on him? Why was he treating and thinking of her like she was one of his own, a female of his kind that would no doubt see him as the piece of cjit that he was? She was ignorant and unused to their customs, yet every time she opened her mouth to test his patience or question who he was, he would snap at her like he did everyone else. Since when did the opinion of soft meat bother him so much?

Sofie shifted beneath the two predator’s unwavering gazes and coughed. “I uh… don’t feel comfortable trying to nickname you,” she admitted, pointing at the green one with a bit of unease. “You’re Lex’s friend… but I think she referred to you as ‘Scar’ once… does that… um… suit you?” The alien seemed to contemplate the name for a moment before he seemed to swell with pride and his eyes glowed in pride.

“Sei-i!” he replied in his tongue, nodding. Lex had named him after his clan marking, the one he shared with her. A glorious title he would bear to the end of his days if she so allowed it.

The other alien snorted in disgust at his friend’s response and turned his attention back to his wound, which Sofie realized he was treating. Even hunched, taking care of his own wound, he looked powerful. Deadly. His eyes were hard and experienced and the anger that stormed behind them wasn’t Sofie’s childish anger. It was a righteous _fury_.

He caught her eye in a glance and paused his work, meeting her gaze head on. He seemed to be challenging her, daring her to give him a name he approved of. Sofie, not really wanting to risk his anger, but unwilling to back down, cupped her hand over her chin and stared at him, waiting for a name to come to her.

To Scar, it looked almost like they were battling, a silent war raging between the human and Yautja as if they were old enemies, able to read their preconceived attack without either moving. The air got hot and stifling around him, and he sensed his companion’s tenseness, the tautness of his muscles as he expected the worst. As he expected an insult. Finally, the war was broken by a smile that curled Sofie’s lips, and she said simply, “Ajax.”

Both of the aliens seemed to freeze, confused and unable to translate the foreign word.

Sofie smiled brighter and sat up. “Ajax is a very, very old name and I think it has to do with some legendary warriors. I don’t know what it means, but I like it on you.”

Scar glanced at his companion and knew for a fact that he was preening.

_Preening_ at the compliment of a _human_. Who would have thought.

He sent him a pointed chuff and his friend swept a hard gaze at him, quitting his puffing immediately, and snarling. Scar only laughed, chuckling at his friend’s transparency.

Sofie, apparently convinced that she’d done something right for once, smiled. “So, you’re cool with Ajax?”

The alien looked back at her, his chest swelling again and nodded.

Another chuff was sent his way and he responded with only a growl, but his eyes never left the human in front of him.

She had honored him with the title of warriors long since passed, based only on the idea that he looked good with that title. It had nothing to do with his accomplishments or lack thereof. It had nothing to do with his worth or experiences. It had only to do with him and him alone. He knew she didn’t understand the gravity of what she’d said, but he was enraptured by the simple honesty and sincerity in this little human.

Vulnerable, strong, and sincere.

He had never encountered a greater human than she.

 

* * *

 

 

Alexa returned some time later, claiming that the nearest shop was fifteen minutes away to and from because of the traffic, and Sofie had immediately thanked her for the hot brew and started to nurse it. Apparently everything had gone well. Sofie introduced their companions with their names, and when Lex had called him by name, she couldn’t help but notice the warmth and pride in his demeanor and the way he’d almost purred.

Perhaps it was just a welcome greeting and it was a salute of his respect for her. Of friendship and kinship. It certainly wasn’t a threat, so she wasn’t going to complain.

Ajax, she’d also noticed, was in a similarly good mood and his eyes didn’t feel so much like pure rage and hatred toward everyone that so much as looked at him, and he’d taken on a more relaxed posture, similar to Scar’s.

“So!” Alexa said. “You talk about what you wanted to know?”

Sofie glanced at her before choking on her coffee and nodding, taking a moment to gather her breath.

Ajax shifted, as if he wanted to help her regain her breath, but she recovered before he could stand, so he returned to his impassive demeanor. Alexa had not missed his interest thought, and thought it was weird he’d even bothered. Didn’t he hate Sofie?

“Right,” Sofie’s voice dragged Alexa out of her reverie and she looked back at her friend, who was smiling nervously, just like when she’d first met her. “I um… See, the thing is, my grandfather is dying.”

Scar chittered, sitting up straight and concerned. “ **Who wound him**?” he demanded.

Sofie’s smile turned forced and no longer reached her eyes. “Time. He’s sixty-five now and… well his mind hasn’t been able to keep up with him. He’s got a disease we call dementia… and it steals his memories and ability to take care of himself slowly.”

Scar huffed and shook his head before bowing it in solemn respect. Even Ajax lowered his crest, but his eyes never moved from Sofie and he studied her hard, reading her every movement. 

“A few weeks ago he’d been a little more coherent and he seemed fine and dandy… but then he just. _Wasn’t_. Like he was still there in the moment, fighting off one of you and it was…” she frowned entirely. “It was terrifying. He thought he was going to die. That one of you had come back to get him and he was going to pay for what happened to the one he killed. He has nothing to prove what happened actually happened. Nothing but paperwork filed away and blacked out far beneath Washington and everyone thinks he’s losing his mind. Even he thinks he’s losing his mind and I just…”

Sofie struggled to bite back the tears and Ajax moved once again, before she could compose herself, and he kneeled in front of her and touched her shoulder, a rare sign of comradery and respect, and in this instance, comfort and strength. Scar offered no comment, despite the shock in both Sofie and Lex’s eyes and he was certain even Ajax was shocked at his own behavior.

In an instant, hewas back at his perch, his arms folded and expression guarded as if he had not offered the human female consolation for her pain. Scar looked at him pointedly, but Ajax was busy studying his clawed toes.

“Thank you…”

Ajax’s eyes were torn from his feet at the small voice of the human, and he looked at her, seeing the sincerity and vulnerability in her eyes once again. Those beautiful blue eyes, stirring like an ocean’s current, pushing and pulling at him and filling him with peace and warmth— he grunted and looked away, severing the enchanting connection before it got out of hand. Human, he reminded himself. _Human_.

Sofie, now calmed, continued. “Honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted from you when I got here… I guess I was more focused on finding you, that actually getting some sort of proof or comfort for my Grandfather completely went over my head.” She lowered her head, the image of an ashamed and foolish child and sighed. “I don’t know.”

Scar looked at Ajax, who had to take a moment to tear his eyes away from the human, and they looked at each other silently. “What do you think?” Scar asked him.

Ajax looked away as he stewed in thought. “If it’s the degeneration of his mind, we have no medicine to either halt or reverse the effects. He’s not so old a human that this should be as terrible a thing as it is, but it seems it’s perhaps attacked him earlier than it should have?”

Scar shook his head. “Humans are delicate creatures. Perhaps it isn’t quite so uncommon amongst them to degrade so early.”

Ajax nodded and returned to thinking in solemn silence. Scar followed suite, and they meditated over the humans’ predicament with intense care. There wasn’t much they could do for her grandfather. Easing a broken mind was nearly impossible. It took care and effort and was never an instant or prolonged fix. Scar looked at his friend, who’s attention had been grabbed by Sofie once again, and he glanced at the two humans.

Sofie and Alexa were talking in soft voices, Alexa seemingly apologetic and Sofie smiling softly in thanks. It was a small, tender moment and it ended in a small hug, elicited by Alexa and returned by the other.

Ajax looked away, quite suddenly and rumbled. Scar knew the sound and had seen Ajax grumble many times before in response to his jealousy. “You are distracted,” Scar pointed out, only a hint of humor in his voice.

“She is as brave as she is stupid,” Ajax responded without a hint of anger or threat, “risking her life to ease the pain of a member of her tribe, her family. It is honorable and respectable and I have never seen a human so worthy of respect in my life.”

“I have,” Scar offered,

“I have not seen her fire,” his friend replied, a simple fact that he did not use to belittle Alexa, “so this other human is the first.”

Scar nodded, seeing his point. “Have you decided on anything?”

“No. This seems to be a task we cannot be successful in, not without a proper elder and a procession.”

“And a gift.”

Scar and Ajax stared at each other once again before an idea merged into their minds instantly and they both jumped to their feet. “We go and visit him and bring him a token for his bravery! It would only be a temporary fix unless we give him a reminder, physical evidence, a spear or weapon he associates with us!”

“Sofie could bring it to his attention and remind him and it would ease his mind, perhaps give him peace!”

Scar hadn’t seen his companion truly excited and joyous since they were un-blooded and it was encouraging to say the least that he was willing to help this human. They turned to the girls, now giving them their full attention at their chattering, and Ajax announced proudly, “ **We meet him. Give him gift. You have proof to ease mind. All is well**!”

Sofie’s eyes went wide, but it was not with happiness or vulnerability and Ajax frowned. Was their idea not good enough?

“Holy shit, you two, he lives in an _old home_ on the sixth floor. You’ll never get inside without scaring some old lady to death or having the fucking cops called on you!”

Almost all of that information was lost on the two yautja, who looked at her blankly as if shed sputtered pure nonsense.

Alexa butted in, “He lives in a very secure facility meant to take care of elderly humans and there is a likely chance of you two getting caught.”

Now understanding, the Yautja chuckled wickedly, their eyes flashing in challenge.

“ **Let them try catch us**.”

There was the Scar Alexa had known in the temple.


End file.
